Self-Assessment
With the technique, Self-Assessment, students check (or ‘assess’) their own performance in a task against clear criteria. Based on this, they make notes or adjustments.
Why use this technique?
Often, there are limits to how many students you can observe and give feedback to in a lesson. Self-Assessment can help address this issue. It can also help encourage students to think hard about their own performance, which they might not do if they know feedback is going to be given to them (by you or a peer).
Notes and tips
Typically, the key features of effective Self-Assessment are that students:
Have easy access to resources to support this, such as student-friendly assessment criteria.
Have been shown examples of what effective self-assessment looks like.
Have been taught metacognitive strategies, such as asking questions like: ‘I wonder why that’s the case?’, ‘If this is true, is this true as well?’ and ‘What could I do to make this better?’.
Focused reflection
How well do you currently use this technique?
Is it a technique you will focus on developing?
If so, what are the key features you will focus on (things to do, and not do)?